Senior Director, Innovation and Incubation

Foundation for California Community Colleges; United States; Remote; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Director for Innovation and Incubation to lead transformative initiatives that support student success and community impact. This role involves collaborating with leadership to design and implement innovative programs, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and fostering partnerships. The position offers a unique opportunity to influence the educational landscape while working in a fully remote environment. Join a dynamic team committed to driving change and making a meaningful impact in higher education and beyond.

Benefits

Competitive compensation

Generous PTO

Medical, dental, and vision plans

Flexible Spending Accounts

Health Savings Accounts

Employee Assistance Program

Wellness offerings

CalPERS retirement program

Tuition reimbursement

Public Service Loan Forgiveness certified employer

Qualifications

• 7+ years management experience with program and team management skills.
• Experience overseeing large-scale complex projects and program portfolios.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine FoundationCCC’s innovation and incubation program.
• Collaborate with leadership to align initiatives with organizational goals.
• Manage budget for innovation initiatives and pilot projects.

Skills

Innovation and incubation strategies

Design thinking

Rapid prototyping

Agile methods

Strategic planning

Communication and storytelling

Partnership development

Job description

Senior Director, Innovation and Incubation Remote within California, Must reside in California

FoundationCCC serves as a hub for innovation and incubation, operating at the nexus of education and community, partnering with internal and external stakeholders to bring bold ideas to life. The Senior Director, Innovation and Incubation is an exciting opportunity to advance FoundationCCC’s role as a go-to place for testing ideas, scaling new approaches, and driving transformative innovation in support of students, colleges, and communities. These initiatives align with long-term strategy and sustainability goals across FoundationCCC’s core areas of impact, including student success, workforce development, equity and community impact, climate action, and systemwide support.

What You’ll Do

This position will work closely with FoundationCCC’s leadership team—serving in advisory, collaboration, and ownership roles—to design, develop, and provide services that support the successful intake, launch, and development of promising mission-aligned initiatives and their ongoing transition into the organization. It will also collaborate closely with the CCC Chancellor’s Office to ensure innovations help advance system and state priorities. The Senior Director is expected to build strong, trusting relationships with program leadership across the organization and in the Chancellor’s Office. Success in this role requires a collaborative, integrative approach that complements and supports existing teams and initiatives while advancing innovation in alignment with FoundationCCC’s shared leadership culture.

The Senior Director will also play a key role in supporting organizational learning, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, measured risk-taking, knowledge sharing, and adaptive learning. This includes facilitating learning sessions and organization-wide forums, capturing insights from projects, and applying lessons learned to future initiatives to strengthen institutional capacity and impact. The role will advance agile approaches and cross-functional collaboration, ensuring a wide aperture for sourcing and vetting opportunities while embedding student-centered design in decision-making.

The Senior Director works closely with and provides high-level support to the Chief Advancement Officer and works closely with the Office of the President on a wide variety of strategic initiatives, including assisting with strategic planning and aligning initiatives with the broader goals of the organization. This position will help develop processes to leverage FoundationCCC’s Board Designated Innovation Fund, refine funding models, and support strategic investments by FoundationCCC to promote sustainable innovations.

• Develop, oversee, and continuously refine FoundationCCC’s innovation and incubation program and services.
• Incubate new initiatives and support their successful integration into the broader organization, aligning with long-term strategy and sustainability goals.
• Help pilot and develop Innovation Acceleration Teams (IATs) in collaboration with the Double Impact Innovation Hub workgroup and the Office of the President, including support for developing recommendations and implementation frameworks.
• Expand external partnership development, identifying strategic partners for new initiatives.
• Identify potential funding and develop opportunities for new initiatives.
• Collaborate closely with the Chancellor’s Office to ensure innovation efforts are aligned with systemwide and state priorities and foster cross-organization coordination.
• Collaborate with the Chief Advancement Officer, Executive Chief of Staff, and Office of the President to help facilitate and implement FoundationCCC’s strategic planning efforts, including the development of the organization’s next strategic plan.
• Manage a budget for innovation initiatives and experimentation, including bringing on internal and external expertise, rapid prototyping, pilot projects, and early-stage testing.

Attributes for Success

• Expertise in innovation and incubation strategies, including design thinking, rapid prototyping, agile methods.
• Minimum of seven (7+) years management experience to include strong program, financial, and team management skills, including experience supervising highly skilled professionals
• Minimum of five (5+) years overseeing large-scale complex projects and/or program portfolios
• Strong strategic planning and execution skills, with the ability to develop and implement scalable innovation frameworks.
• Strong communication and storytelling abilities, with the capacity to advocate for innovation both internally and externally.
• Proven ability to develop partnerships with funders, higher education leaders, government agencies, and industry partners.
• We’re recruiting for mission-driven, passionate, equity-minded individuals with a strong desire to impact and change people’s lives for the better
• Our work holds great weight and responsibility, and the opportunity to impact the lives of millions
• Innovation, creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurship are encouraged as employees work to achieve organizational goals
• FoundationCCC blends the impact of a non-profit, the culture of an entrepreneurial start-up, and the scale of a state agency
• Team members are hired for their expertise in niche areas across our areas of impact and higher education overall, and for their knowledge of business, philanthropy, technology, communications, and more
• We have a commitment to professional development and an emphasis on shared leadership, to ensure growth for employees and the organization overall

What we Offer

FoundationCCC is fully committed to a “remote-first” philosophy, and recruits and hires talent across the state in fully remote positions, where virtual work is possible. Our headquarters are located in Downtown Sacramento, just blocks from California’s State Capitol.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, generous PTO, holidays
• Medical, dental, and vision plans, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Health Savings Accounts (HSA), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Wellness offerings
• CalPERS retirement program and optional 403(b) and 457 Retirement plans
• Tuition reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness certified employer

If you have any additional questions, please email us at [e-mail].

Budgeted Annual Salary Pay Range:

$160,000.00 - $180,000.00

Final salary and rates are based on education, experience, skills relevant to the role, and internal equity.